The present invention relates generally to navigational devices and more particularly to sextants and rangefinders.
The dominant method of determining position at sea is celestial navigation using a hand held marine sextant to obtain the altitutude of stars and other celestial bodies. The sextant has limitations. It requires sufficient daylight illumination and weather clarity to simultaneously see the celestial bodies and the horizon. Rolling, pitching and yawing caused by heavy weather make operation of a hand held sextant difficult.